President Obama continues to seek a bi-partisan approach to health care reform. God love the man for being persistent, but can he really pull it off?
by Charlie Leck
Today, Thursday (25 February 2010) the Republicans have been invited by President Obama to join in a televised bipartisan discussion about Health Care Reform. The Republican leaders of Congress have been asked “to bring their best ideas for slowing the growth of health care expenditures and expanding the number of insured Americans.” [New York Times Opinion Page]
The Times published the statements of five conservative thinkers who expressed their opinions on what the Republican ideas should be. Bill Frist, Mark McClellan, James P. Pinkerton, Charles Kolb and Newt Gingrich responded.
If you care about the health care debate, you should read these comments (and they are brief) before the session on Thursday. Frankly, I don't expect what the Republicans bring to the table will be anywhere near as positive as these statements and, therefore, don't count on the discussion being very fructuous. The Republican strategy for the 2010 elections seems to involve creating a stalemate on every legislative action and then placing the blame for inaction on Democrats. If, however, the Republicans turn today's session into an imbroglio, trying to embarrass the President, I think they'll be making a serious strategic mistake.
The Times published the statements of five conservative thinkers who expressed their opinions on what the Republican ideas should be. Bill Frist, Mark McClellan, James P. Pinkerton, Charles Kolb and Newt Gingrich responded.
If you care about the health care debate, you should read these comments (and they are brief) before the session on Thursday. Frankly, I don't expect what the Republicans bring to the table will be anywhere near as positive as these statements and, therefore, don't count on the discussion being very fructuous. The Republican strategy for the 2010 elections seems to involve creating a stalemate on every legislative action and then placing the blame for inaction on Democrats. If, however, the Republicans turn today's session into an imbroglio, trying to embarrass the President, I think they'll be making a serious strategic mistake.
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